When I press F4, it no longer summons LaunchPad. F3 still invokes Mission Control, and the other function keys, without modifiers, have their respective meanings (volume, play, etc), but I can only invoke LaunchPad with my hot corner or the Dock button.

4 Answers
4

One solution is to rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist and log out and back in. I just tried this and it seems to have restored the binding, no hack like FunctionFlip required. My other special keys all work, too. However, I lost my other customized Keyboard Shortcuts, like ctrl+← for switching spaces Mission Control. They worked after I re-enabled them.

It looks like com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist is the preferences file, and MacOS works fine if it's missing. After I'd edited my Keyboard Shortcuts via the preferences panel that file was recreated and everything's back to normal except Launchpad launches again. Based on a diff of the two plist files I'm guessing the keycode for Launchpad is one of 118, 119, 64, or 65.

In System Preferences / Keyboard / Keyboard Shortcuts, doubleclick on the keybinding for Show Launchpad and press F4.

FunctionFlip should not be necessary: it should be enough to set the binding in Keyboard Shortcuts. The problem is by default the F4 key does not actually send the keycode for F4, it sends the magic code for LaunchPad. (Just like F8 isn't F8, it's pause iTunes.) And the Keyboard preferences pane won't let you bind that magic LaunchPad key. FunctionFlip solves the issue by making it so the F4 key really sends F4.

Note that FunctionFlip is a bit tricky. For it to work, you have to enable System Preferences / Universal Access / Enable access for assistive devices. Also there's a "Start FunctionFliip at Login" preference that you probably want to enable.

The FunctionFlip page points to two tutorials for LaunchPad: TUAW and Josh Sunshine's. Same procedure as I describe above.

I like that, but don't want to lose F4 as a separate key from LaunchPad. Great workaround, but I'm looking for a fix. As I said, I suspect it's a preference file.
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Daniel♦Sep 10 '11 at 16:16

Please see my edit for a different fix. I think I found your preference file.
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NelsonSep 10 '11 at 16:33

I want to accept this and award the bounty, but can you make your second solution a separate answer? I like them both, and want to up vote them both, but the second is the one I want to document as the best one.
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Daniel♦Sep 10 '11 at 16:38